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Top 50 High-Flying Female Executives in Mobile Content
credits photo: CGPGrey.com
Tim Green of Mobile Entertainment Magazine has again compiled a list of the top 50 high-flying female executives in mobile content, and he has kindly permitted us to publish the full article, with all the credits for him and his magazine.
Its an impressive list of female business heroes who have started companies as pioneers, such as Claire Boonstra of Layar, or who have exited their company, such as Cheryl Dalrymple, CFO of Admob (sold to Google for almost 1 billion…!)… and we want to interview all of them!
The names and text below is republished from ME.
TOP 50 High-Flying Female Executives in Mobile Content
Julie Ask, principal analyst, Forrester
When ME asked its audience to suggest names for this list, Ask came up more than most. One of the analysts that wields true influence in this space.
Kate Barry, general manager, PlayPhone
PlayPhone is one of the big winners in the post-D2C era, one of the few to flourish in transferring its skills to B2B, social media more. Barry is one of its key players.
Balbir Blugan, app acquisition manager, Sony Ericsson
As part of its reinvention as a maker of sleek touchscreens, Sony Ericsson is also looking afresh at apps – with former THQ exec Blugan in charge.
Claire Boonstra, co-founder, Layar
AR is undoubtedly mobile’s new new thing. And Layar, the firm founded by Boonstra, is its biggest champion.
Jennifer Byrne, director of business development, Verizon Wireless
Verizon has always been associated with content, thanks to Get It Now and V-Cast. Byrne was involved with all of this, and is now taking the operator into new areas.
Laurel Chamberlain, director of digital engagement, Turner Broadcasting EMEA
Under Chamberlain, Turner has become deeply committed to mobile, and thanks to brands like Ben X, it has serious clout.
Erica Chriss, VP of strategy and biz dev, Greystripe
In the midst of the Apple/Adobe spat, Greystripe made much of its Apple-approved rich ad formats. Nice one, Erica.
Cheryl Dalrymple, CFO, Admob
$750m sale to Google? AdMob must have a decent CFO. Step forward Cheryl Dalrymple, one of the original AdMobbers.
Mary Dillon, CEO of U.S. Cellular
The only female CEO of a US wireless carrier – albeit it a tier two carrier. Just a few months into the job. Will be interesting to see her approach to content
Julia Dimambro, MD, Cherry Media Read more
Females Fund Fashion Innovation as Fans
It seems like the enduring trend for both Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter 2010 is fashion retail. There’s been big moves like Balderton selling out of Figleaves for £11.5m and investing $9m in Sarah Curran’s my-wardrobe.com. Michelle Dewberry has found a new partner to grow her Chiconomise.com site and even
I was feeling unusually on the pulse having had the darling of the kitchen, Nigella Lawson, choose to wear my earrings for a forth time (look out for the October edition of Good Housekeeping magazine for the pics!).
The blonde is Katie Eary, the first fashion designer to get funded using the Catwalk Genius funding platform
However Catwalk Genius’ Katie Eary Launch Party soon had me realising who’s sitting pretty and who’s drop dead gorgeous.
Held in The Architecture Foundation in Tooley Street, the blossom of the fashion and tech world came together to raise a cheer for the launch of Katie Eary’s new collection. It’s no ordinary collection either. Aside from having fans like Lady Gaga, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller, it’s made history as being the first fan funded collection to launch from Catwalk Genius’ Back A Designer technology.
The concept of Catwalk Genius’ Back a Designer is simple enough that even if you prefer candy floss to cognos you can take part:
- Take a look at the garments designers want to produce
- If you like it, back it by buying a share in it’s production
- When enough people buy shares the collection gets produced
- As the collection sells the fans get their money back
For those with a business mind there’s also the opportunity to become an affiliate and advertise lines on their own websites, earning commissions on sales. That could prove an interesting way for fashion bloggers to get more involved in the fashion industry. To top it all off there are extra perks like advance shopping options and party invites that go with supporting a designer through Catwalk Genius.
“It’s only a small collection,” Catwalk Genius founder Helen Brown told me, “and we’re delighted to see it on it’s way. A big thanks to all our fans.”
Wishing Helen well was a wealth of Female Internet Heroes including Audioboo’s Karen Barber, and Stradbroke Advisor’s Inma Martinez.
And it’s not just ladies that realise how profitable being well dressed can be, as I found out chatting to Ari Helgason. Ari’s first foray into the B2B world of fashion was World On A Hanger, a software system for managing a fashion label more effectively. Ari subsequently took the YCombinator programme and has started a new business called Fabricly which helps business side customers source suppliers and customers globally. He’s currently in the process of relocating the business to New York’s fashion hub and has received an offer for his World On A Hanger business. Ari maintained that there is a wealth of untapped opportunity in supply chain optimisation in the fashion sector and I’m sure his expertise will help many reach greater heights.
Another phenomenon sweeping the internet at the moment are the disruptive commerce models. Read more
Balderton Capital on its Investment Strategy and its Investment in My-Wardrobe
Online fashion is a hot topic at this moment. Natalie Massanet sold part of upmarket online fashion platform Net-a-Porter, Sylvia Cody of private sales club SecretSales got investment from Brands4Friends and Sarah Curran of My-Wardrobe, which sells affordable luxury clothes and accessories, secured a $9 million Series A lead by Balderton Capital.
Harry Briggs, Balderton Capital at The Big Kitchen Dinner
Time for a series of interviews in the fashion industry, the first one with Harry Briggs and Dharmash Mistry from Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms, on their investment in My-Wardrobe, and on what they are looking for in a company to invest in it.
“I’d estimate that only 5% of the business plans we receive are from female entrepreneurs. We’re eager to see more…”
Your recent investment in My-Wardrobe, what are the top 5 reasons why you invested in this company at this moment?
My-Wardrobe [founded in 2006, ed.] has a great team [The company has 85 employees based across the central London and Nottingham offices, ed], led by female entrepreneur Sarah Curran. They have excellent relationships with top fashion brands like Mulberry, By Malene Berger and Vivienne Westwood Anglomania – and these are hard to build in online fashion. They have a rapidly growing, loyal customer base. And they’re a leading brand in a market, online fashion, that’s rapidly moving online: so it’s a huge opportunity; we have taken a significant stake in My-Wardrobe and Dharmash Mistry [the former managing director of Emap Consumer Media, ed.] will join the Board.
Were you ‘inspired’ by the success story of Net-a-Porter? How?
Of course: Net-a-Porter have demonstrated that large numbers of people will buy fashion from the top fashion houses online, at full price, and with average orders over €600. I don’t think many people thought that was possible until Natalie Massenet led the way.
What will be the biggest hurdle to make this investment and/or company a success?
In fashion, you depend on having superb buyers picking the right clothes to buy for the next season. Buy too little, and you disappoint your customers; buy too much, and you’re left with unsold stock and a cashflow problem. Mywardrobe has one of the best buying teams in the business, but it’s always a delicate balance.
You invest in many different industries; how do you get your required knowledge for various industries? Read more
Michelle Dewberry finds Business Partner to Grow Chiconomise
Female Internet Hero and The NextWomen Mentor Michelle Dewberry, along with her new business partner and co-founder Vicky Zadeh, has re-launched Chiconomise, the one-stop shop to save women money on all things fashion, beauty, lifestyle and home.
Set up earlier as a newsletter in the format as the very successful Daily Candy, Chiconomise is now more focused on its website and has its own Daily Chic, which gives you the very best deal in your area if chiconomistas are quick, as those deals last only 24hrs.
With the new growth phase for the website, Michelle expanded the co-founding team with long term friend Vicky Zadeh, who is responsible for the financial side of the business.
Idea behind the relaunch is that with so many sample sales, high street sales, daily sales, online sales and private shopping clubs, the web can be a confusing place and finding the best deals can be a full time job.
Michelle and Vicky are doing that work for you: they check 101 different sites, visit the private fashion shopping clubs and read thousands of different emails and then pull all the information together to bookmark, shop or share with friends. Read more
Launch of Female Business Heroes: in Print!!
NOW IN PRINT!
Today saw the launch of 50 Female Business Heroes, the best 50 female entrepreneurs of The Netherlands, a print magazine as a cooperation between Sprout.nl, the Dutch entrepreneurial magazine and TheNextWomen.com and TheNextWomen.nl
And we are very proud of it. I would urge you to learn Dutch quickly in order to read this wonderful print magazine.
18 month ago The NextWomen gathered the plan to launch this first female business magazine and Sprout understood the gap in the market.
Today we launched the magazine in a breakfast with 50 female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam.
If you want to see the slide show of the magazine, visit Female Business Heroes, and see who are the 50 Best Female Entrepreneurs of The Netherlands.
Laura Tenison, founder JoJo Maman Bebe, winner of Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards in the UK
The winner of the Veuve Cliquot Business Woman Awards in the UK was announced this week, Laura Tenison, founder of JoJo Maman Bebe, and it was certainly not her first prize as an entrepreneur.
Business acumen, social responsibility, ethics, how green is the contestant: these were all criteria that the jury, including Governmental Champion of Digital inclusion Martha Lane Fox, took into account, and that applied the most to Laura.
As founder and managing director of retailer JoJo Maman Bebe, she has been heavily involved in the Nema Foundation, a Mozambique based charity for infant mortality since the start of the venture.
About her company she said to TheNextWomen in 2009:
“I launched in the last recession and have grown the company organically to its current size with Gross turnover of £19M, without the need for VC or private equity. We are surviving the recession and are currently trading about 11% up on a like for like basis.”
About female entrepreneurship she said: Read more
A Unique Group of Mentors set to Advice the Next Generation of Female Internet Heroes
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Although women count for over 15% of UK entrepreneurs*, they represent less than 4% of start-ups with access to investment funding** in the country. This Gender inequality not only limits the growth of women-led SMEs, but it could also slow women’s enterprise in the post recession years. Following the Women’s Enterprise Task Force Report recommending to enhance the benefit from women networks, particularly in terms of business mentoring and coaching, a group of experienced men and women, all entrepreneurs or involved in SME enterprise, have decided to join forces and take action to trigger change.
Simone Brummelhuis, founder of The NextWomen, has today launched the NextWomen Mentoring Programme, in which over 20 outstanding male and female technology entrepreneurs from across the globe have committed to help the future of online enterprise.
“The Angel and VC investment game is still a very masculine environment. We believe that, with guidance from experienced players, many young female entrepreneurs can help change that, just as the past generations have helped change the corporate environment.” says Joana Picq, COO of The NextWomen.
The programme is unique in the way it manages the commitment to the relationship between the mentor and mentee. NextMentees, as they are called in the programme, commit to one of three different packages ranging in value, while NextMentors choose their NextMentees.
“To be a good mentor you must set your heart to it. I need to know my experience, connections and skills can really help my NextMentee launch or grow their start-up before I accept them.” Added NextMentor Sarah McVittie, co-founder of Texperts which was sold to kgb giant, 118118, at the end of 2008.
Launched to give female entrepreneurs ongoing support and advice, the programme has an impressive line-up of internet heavyweights including Michelle Dewberry, founder of Michelle Dewberry ltd and Chiconomise and winner of the second series of The Apprentice; Andrea Nacmias, former CFO of iBazar which was sold to eBay; Judy Piatkus who has set up and sold two publishing companies over the last thirty years including one of the UK’s top 25 publishing companies, Paitkus Books.
NextMentees will be able to gain insider knowledge and expertise on starting, growing and exiting a business, while they build confidence around the daily decisions they must make as business leaders.
The scheme is primarily aimed at female entrepreneurs, but is also open to men and other professionals seeking entrepreneurial advice and support from its NextMentors.
NextMentees can ask to be matched, or can apply to the NextMentor of their choice:
- Alicia Navarro – Founder and CEO of Skimlinks
- Andrea Nacmias – Director of Sunfive and the Cannonball Group
- Bindi Karia – VC/Emerging Business Lead for Microsoft UK
- Christina Vaughan – Founder and CEO of Image Source
- Emmanuel Noirhomme – Managing Director of Letsbuyit.com
- Jana Eggers – CEO of Spreadshirt
- Joana Picq – COO of The NextWomen
- Judy Piatkus – Founder of Piatkus Books
- Katarina Skoberne – Founder of openAd
- Lesley Eccles – Marketing Director and co-founder of Hubdub ltd
- Michelle Dewberry – Founder of Michelle Dewberry ltd and Chiconomise and winner of the second series of The Apprentice
- Natalie Turner – Founder and CEO of Entheo
- Paul Grant – Founder of The Funding Game workshop initiative
- Polly Gowers – Founder of Everyclick.com
- Sarah McVittie – Founder of Texperts
- Simone Brummelhuis – Founder and CEO of The NextWomen
- Stewart Townsend – Manager Sun Startup Essentials, UK, Ireland and Europe
- Tom Harrow – Co-founder of Findababysitter.com
- Ashley Ward -
- Collette Dunkley – Founder of XandY Communications
- Sophie Neary -
More information about individual NextMentors and the various packages can be found on the site and applications can be done by simply filling in The NextWomen Mentoring Programme survey.
For industry professionals interested in joining the scheme as a NextMentor, contact jo[at]thenextwomen.com
Press contact: Joana Picq – 07530057536 – Jo[at]thenextwomen.com
Female Internet Hero of the Month: Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes
“I want to be a champion of digital technologies that deliver better and more prosperous lives for the citizens and businesses of Europe.”
Neelie Kroes, has taken on the newly-created Digital Agenda portfolio and we are glad that Women & IT & Entrepreneurship are high on her agenda. On Neelie Kroes’ blog, the Commissioner for the Digital Agenda writes the following:
It is my pleasure to announce that there are now 50 companies signed up to the European Commission’s Code of Best Practices for Women in ICT. This is a ten-fold increase in just one year.
The spread of this code of practice is one of several actions the Commission is taking to address the ridiculous situation where young women now use computers as often as men, and get more university degrees than men, but are still virtually absent from high-tech jobs. This does not make social or economic sense, not lease because e-skills are key to an inclusive economic recovery! The answer is in front of us: we must invest in women, and this investment must be driven by the industry itself.
For her work for women, she has received the Aletta Jacobs Prize, a prize recognising achievement and campaigning by Dutch women. From her acceptance speech we take the following highlights:
- “If my profile has made me a role model, then I take on that responsibility.
- A well-informed mind is the best security. And generations of well-informed minds are what are needed to give our country and Europe a bright future. I hope other women take their education seriously, and use it not just to advance themselves, but to participate in all areas of life and to bring their learning to those forums. Use you education to help others.
- Your education will also help to secure you financially, yes. But independence matters more. Do not be afraid to be different. Read more
Call for The NextWomen Angels: Women who Want to Invest in Startups
Flickr: gorbould
Julie Meyer, Sherry Coutu, Rosemary Forsyth, Marijn Pijnenborg and Annemarie van Gaal all have a very unique feature in common: They are women who are investing in startups. Its unique because there are actually very few female angel investors. Only 5% of the angel investors are women.
As more women are getting wealthier and invest in real estate, jewelry and even their own businesses, only few of them are investing in startups. Even when they have exited their own company.
In the last Women Enterprise Task Force Report, it is stated that it would be great for women-led business to encourage high net worth women to become business angels.
Why is The NextWomen encouraging women angel investors?
Women should become part of the dealflow in the tech companies.
Women look differently to women-led companies.
Women invest differently than men.
First time angel investors may need some expert advice from other angel investors in a trusted environment.
and, most of all because:
Its challenging, rewarding and fun to invest! (you get to sit on the board, work with young entrepreneurs etc.)
So here is a call to you, all (potentia) female angel investors worldwide: Contact us if you are investing in startups or are interested in investing in startups. The NextWomen Angels will come together in a Kitchen Dinner soon.
If you are man, that’s oke, but bring a female investor along.
Contact us via simone [at] thenextwomen.com
For some interesting information read this article on Female Angels. and this artticle on Women Angels.
What are the Top Tips (for Life) from Martha Lane Fox & Brent Hoberman?
Have you ever wondered what the uber-successful Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman would name as their top tips for life? After all they have enjoyed great success in their business lives, so you could imagine they must have some great lifestyle tips up their sleeves as well. If so then hunt out the newly published ‘TOP TIPS FOR LIFE’ and have a read.
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Launched in March 2007 as a website, Top Tips is the brainchild of Kate Reardon, set up when she realised:
“there was no automatic place for women to find the conventional words of wisdom that, generations ago, would have been passed down from mother to daughter”.
cc: bmi voyager
Within a very short space of time the website, where real women post real tips for real life, became a worldwide phenomenon, and a book went in to the planning. TOP TIPS FOR LIFE compiles the best of this advice, shedding light on areas such as dating, gardening, style, friendship and happiness.
‘Top Tips is beyond fabulous – it’s cool, funny and fantastically useful’ Anya Hindmarch
Now comes this indispensable manual for life, brimming with brilliant and essential suggestions on how to do absolutely anything, from getting gum out of your hair to looking younger, from cooking the perfect soft boiled egg to celebrity Top Tips on the secret of happiness itself…
The book includes Top Tips on How to be Happy from our very own female internet hero Martha Lane Fox, as well as Read more
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